PRAIA DA ROSA & PORTO ALEGRE

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We had three wonderful days in Praia da Rosa. Only a couple of hours by bus from Florianapolis, but a million miles from anywhere.

Praia da Rosa is a jewel. It is seemingly undeveloped and unspoiled but in truth there are tonnes of pousadas, hotels and hostels, but they are just tastefully and sympathetically done.

We stayed in Bouganvillea Pousada. In truth it was well out of our budget but with some tough negotiating we got the rate down by half and could afford to stay there (kind of).

We had our own little chalet with a balcony overlooking the bay. From July to November there are whales in the bay, but we'd secretly hoped they would arrive early this year so we could see them. It didn't happen, but then how could we ever top our encounter with whales in Coiba, Panama?

Apart from divine accommodation, the bay was really pretty. We were lucky on one day to have blue skies and warm weather, enough for us to play on the beach for hours. The tide was very high though, like on Florianapolis, so there wasn't a great deal of beach left. Not that it mattered as for most of the time it was just us and a few surfers.

Praia da Rosa out of season is lovely. There's noone around, most of the shops and restaurants are closed, and it is so peaceful.

We spent one night in Port Alegre, then the morning in the historical centre. The most interesting thing in the centre was the indoor food market, with its meat, fish and veggie stalls. They had some stalls dedicated to "Mate", the herbal tea concoction that South Americans love.

Then to Montevideo, Uruguay, after four wonderful and diverse months in Brazil.

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